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One Vital Key for Volunteer Youth Ministry Leaders

By
Matt Reynolds
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

I often get asked about the most important ways to be successful when you are a small group leader of students. At the top of my list is building community (I’ll blog about that another time) and the other way is by spending intentional time with students. Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I’ve found that even high school guys who come from homes where a father spends a lot of time with them, that student still wants and needs another adult male to speak into their life.

When you spend time with students, put your cell phone away and make the time about them, not you. Be intentional. Find out what’s going on in their life; be interested in what they are interested in. I hate basketball, but two of my high school guys not only love it, they play on teams. So before I hang out with them I check the Lakers and Clippers stats and know how they are doing. I’m not fake about it, they know I’m not a fan of basketball but they know I care enough to be able to be conversational with them about basketball.

The honest truth is that students will oftentimes talk to a small group leader about things they are uncomfortable talking to their parents about. I once had a parent tell me they were jealous of the conversations I was able to have with their son, but they were really thankful he had someone else in his life he could open up with.

If your church is like most, there are just not enough hours in the day for high school ministry paid staff to spend with each student in their ministry. My church is a megachurch and our high school ministry is bigger than the average size of most churches. Our high school ministry staff is amazing and they make our students feel loved and do a great job teaching and showing the love of Jesus to students. With the size of the ministry, however, there is no way possible for them to spend individual time each week with each student.

My 16 small group guys spend about an hour a week with our high school paid staff during a church service. I spend about four to five hours a week with them as a group. This week I spent another two hours with them individually between lunches, Starbucks runs, texting them and going to their school events. I have two students who suffer from extreme depression so I’ve spent about five to six hours of intentional time with them this week. That doesn’t count endless text messages and phone calls with their parents. All of this was on top of working 55 hours this week.

I’m not complaining, I love my ministry and my small group guys are very important to me. My only goal with this post is to show how important it is to have volunteers in student ministry; good, well-trained volunteers being intentional about the time they spend with students.

Side note for paid youth workers: For every hour a staff member pours into one volunteer, that volunteer, in turn, multiplies that investment exponentially. Your volunteers can spend time ministering to students in ways the paid staff doesn’t have time to. For every training event that you send your volunteers to or host at your church, your ministry will reap the benefits. Sounds like a good investment to me.

This article originally appeared here.

Why You Should Preach Through Ecclesiastes

By
John Divito
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

How quickly can you find Ecclesiastes in your Bible? How quickly can those in your church find it? Ecclesiastes is an often overlooked book in the Bible. When people do read it, they often remain confused, not knowing what this book means or why it is included in God’s Word.

As a result, this book has proved to be one of the most difficult in all of Scripture to understand, and through the centuries many widely different interpretations have been developed. The great Reformer Martin Luther wrote about Ecclesiastes: “This book is one of the more difficult books in all of Scripture, one which no one has ever completely mastered. Indeed, it has been so distorted by the miserable commentaries of many writers that it is almost a bigger job to purify and defend the author from the notions which they have smuggled into him than it is to show his real meaning.”

So why should you preach through Ecclesiastes? Here are five reasons:

To Solve the Big Questions of Life
Who are we? Why are we here? How should we live in this world? These questions are embedded deep within all of us, and there are many different answers out there. This leaves people in our congregation and in our community confused, because there are so many voices among us trying to get our attention. They are also left frustrated, because we cannot live without some kind of answers to these questions. What consumes our thoughts, our time, and our energy depends on how we answer them. Ecclesiastes forces us to wrestle with these questions so that we will come to the right answers.

To Share a God-Centered Worldview
Ecclesiastes is not merely one more voice out there seeking to give us answers to these questions. In this book, our Creator is revealing to us who we are, why we are here, and how we should live. So Ecclesiastes cuts through the fog of all the other answers and shines light into the darkness of our souls. We will only recognize the meaning and purpose of our lives through our relationship with God, who created us as His image bearers to live for His glory in His world.

However, the world we live in is not how God created it to be. It is corrupt and filled with frustration and futility. And we are not who God created us to be. Instead of shining and spreading the glory of God, we live in rebellion against Him and selfishly live for ourselves in sin. Ecclesiastes provides us with an honest and realistic view of life in this sinful and fallen world.

To Show Christ from the Old Testament
Since Christ is the focus and center of all of Scripture, every book of the Bible—including Ecclesiastes—shows us Jesus Christ. All too often, the people in the pew and Christians around us don’t understand how Christ connects to Old Testament books, especially in the wisdom literature. So we have a responsibility to connect the dots from the sorrows of Solomon to the cross of Christ! I appreciate how Graeme Goldsworthy emphasizes this truth: “The ultimate concern of the preacher should be to preach the meaning of the text in relation to the goal of all biblical revelation, the person and work of Christ. Can I maintain my integrity as a Christian preacher if I preach a part of the Bible as if Jesus had not come?”

Ecclesiastes opens by declaring: “‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher; ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity’” (1:2). The theme of vanity in this fallen and corrupt world is developed and demonstrated through the rest of the book, with this key word which is translated different ways appearing throughout Ecclesiastes 38 times. Therefore, we must move from the vanity of this world to the hope of the gospel! Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility [or vanity], not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Christ delivers us from the vanity of life!

To Spread the Gospel through Evangelism
We were not created to be selfish and inward focused individuals, but to love God and to love our neighbor. God has entrusted to us the responsibility to help others recognize who they are, why they are here, and how they should live. In this way, Ecclesiastes becomes a God-given resource for our evangelism. Everyone struggles with the questions and the issues raised in this book! Our neighbors and friends need the clear and certain insight and understanding that this book gives to all of us. They need to see that Christ is the hope to our vanity in this world!

To Savor Satisfaction and Joy in Life
Answering the big questions of the meaning and purpose in life must not simply be an intellectual pursuit. Ecclesiastes has not been given to us as a way to solve a philosophical puzzle in our minds. This is a practical pursuit. We struggle with frustration, dissatisfaction, and unhappiness without the wisdom found in Ecclesiastes. But God has not intended for us to live this way! When we take to heart the truths of this book, our lives are fulfilled with true satisfaction and filled with lasting joy. Ecclesiastes leads us down a path of enjoying our lives satisfied in Christ!

Now, do you see why Martin Luther said that we should read “this noble little book” every day? Then are you willing to do the hard but rewarding work of introducing this wonderful book to your people by preaching Ecclesiastes? I hope so, for the glory of God and the magnifying of Christ’s name!

This article originally appeared here.

In or Out for Halloween?

By
Dale Hudson
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Halloween brings mixed reactions from children’s ministries. Some take a very conservative stance and pull back, while others see it as a harmless way to have fun and reach out.

I’m not going to get into the middle of that debate. You’ll see below where I land.

For me, whether or not you use Halloween as a time of fun or outreach is not the point. The point is we are surrounded by boys, girls, dads, moms, grandparents…whole families that need Jesus. I think we get so caught up in proving our point that sometimes we lose focus on what really matters.

People desperately need Jesus. And God has called us to introduce people to Him. Don’t get caught up in how other churches are doing this. For every breath of energy we spend debating, we could be sharing the love and message of Jesus Christ with the world.

Let’s quit bickering and get busy doing what God has left us here on this Earth to do…reach people with His message of hope. Let’s move our pointing finger away from other churches and point them toward the heartbeat of Jesus. He came to seek and to save those who are lost.

There’s this thing called the Great Commission. It’s supposed to be our top priority as believers and kidmins. Lots of times, there’s a whole lot more talking going on than fulfilling it.

I don’t know how that looks for you and your ministry. That’s up to you to figure out as you seek God’s face. For us it looks like this during Halloween…

IN – At some of our campuses, we are using the event as a time of outreach on campus. We are providing a safe place for our families to come while at the same time encouraging them to bring unchurched neighbors, families and friends.

OUT – At some of our campuses, we are going out in the community and setting up booths at our city events. Getting outside the walls of the church and into the marketplace. Bringing hope and love to those in our community who don’t know Jesus. I see the word “Go” a lot when Jesus shares His heart.

In? Out? Sit at home with the front porch lights turned off? Pass out candy with church invites? Host a party at your church or house? That’s for you and God to decide.

Whatever you do…just reach people…in the end, it won’t matter if you won the debate or not…it will only matter how many kids and families we shared the Good News with.

Quit Asking God to Join Your Side

By
Eric Geiger
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

One of the most famous stories in the Bible is the story of God bringing down the walls of Jericho and giving the city to His people, just as He promised He would. I have heard people teach the story in a way that sounds like we can get God to tear down the walls that our holding us back from our plans. Sermons that essentially sound like, “What are your plans? What walls are in the way? God can tear them down.”

But the story is not about God joining our plans. Before the people marched around the city, Joshua had an incredible interaction with the Commander of the Lord’s army. This interaction helps us understand the story.

When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua approached him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither,” he replied. “I have now come as commander of the Lord’s army.” Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in worship and asked him, “What does my lord want to say to his servant?” The commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did that. (Joshua 5:13-16)

Who is this Commander? In Scripture, angels never receive worship so the Commander can’t be an angel. If not an angel, then who is the Commander? Joshua’s predecessor, Moses, received the same instructions—to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground—and those instructions came from the Lord. The Commander of the Lord’s army is Christ.

When Joshua asked the Commander whose side He was on, the Commander answered “Neither.” Joshua’s question was the wrong question. Christ is the King. We are invited to join His agenda; He doesn’t join ours. Christ is our Commander, not our consultant. Jesus is not looking to help us live our lives but to give us His life. Christ is not looking to help us with our plans; He is looking for us to join Him in His.

It is easy to write this, but it is much more difficult to live it. As a planner, it is easy to default to making a plan and asking God to bless it. But a much better approach is to join God in His plans, to join Him in what He is doing. His plans are always better than ours. As Henry Blackaby pointed out in Experiencing God, the best approach is to find where God is working and join Him there.

As a leader, I need to stop bringing my plans to God and hoping He will bless my agenda. As a parent, I need to stop praying God will help my plans for my kids come to fruition. Because when I became a Christian, those plans aren’t really mine anymore anyway. When we become a Christian, we give Him our sin and we give Him our lives, which is really good news because Christ does a much better job commanding my life than I do.

I need to quit asking God to join my side and remember I have already joined His.

This article originally appeared here.

Beautiful Churches Make Holy Churches

By
Elisha Galotti
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

We stepped inside and beauty stirred my heart. Worship seemed the only appropriate response. It was clear that an artist had spent months, even years, with tools that chiselled, adorned and beautified. Each detail, lovingly and carefully carved. In that room, the light glimmered and shone, reflecting the beauty of His handiwork.

The room I’m speaking of was a school gymnasium.

This past Sunday my husband was guest preaching at a church in Toronto that meets in a school, and their corporate worship service is held in the gym. This gym is a large, light room that is clean and pleasant with large windows lining both sides. It is a simple room that would easily go unnoticed.

But inside that unadorned room was the most exquisite church: people of worship and prayer, people honest about sin, people pleading for God’s mercy, people proclaiming God’s glory, people fellowshipping in His grace. Breathtaking! Yes, I stepped into that church and my heart quickened from the beauty around me—the beauty of God’s holy people.

Later that same day, by pure (sovereign) coincidence, Justin and the kids and I took the subway downtown and found ourselves wandering into one of Toronto’s historic cathedrals. Though different, beauty was in that place too. The “sanctuary” was empty, and our footsteps, light as they were, seemed to disrupt a quiet awe. Magnificent was the handiwork of the artists: ornate woodwork, detailed stained glass, majestic vaulted ceilings. There was a sense of God’s glory in that place too, but not because it was a steepled building and not because we were in a “sanctuary” and not because of anything intrinsically holy in the space. Rather, the Creator’s glory was reflected by the creative work of artists and architects.

As we left, Justin and I reflected upon the clarity of the contrast. That morning we had gathered in a school gymnasium with other Christians and it had truly been a hallowed place, for we had been with God’s people, in God’s presence, hearing God’s word proclaimed. By contrast, that evening we’d been in a majestic cathedral that was nothing more than a building. A stunningly beautiful building, sure. It was even a building with a design and beauty that reflected the Creator. But it was just a building.

It is true, then, that a beautiful church makes a holy church but only in as much as the men and women of the church are clothed in the beautiful garments of Christ’s righteousness.

The church is not a gathering of holy stones but a gathering of holy people.

Vivid contrast has a way of sharpening the picture of even the clearest biblical truths. In the morning, a school gymnasium overflowing with the church. In the evening, a majestic cathedral, empty, long departed from the truth.

Justin and I continued walking and, as we looked at old buildings and considered the contrast of the day, we were reminded of a simple but precious truth: God is growing His kingdom through people, not through structures. Though a physical building is a blessing to any local church and it would be reason to rejoice if all the grand old steepled buildings of Toronto were filled with God’s people, it still wouldn’t make the building themselves any more sacred, nor would it make God’s kingdom any more powerful.

The cathedrals of the past are beautiful and, for the sake of art and history, ought to be preserved for generations to come. Inside their walls we feel a quiet reverence because the creative beauty of such places reflects the glory of the Creator God. But what grace that as new covenant Christians, the only sanctuary needed in order to worship is the sanctuary that God Himself creates in the hearts of His people.

This article originally appeared here.

NewSpring Church After Noble: Is This the Leadership Model of the Future?

By
Stephanie Martin
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

South Carolina’s NewSpring Church is healthier and stronger than ever, thanks to a team approach to ministry and God’s grace. That assessment comes from Clayton King, one of three teaching pastors at the 14-site megachurch.

The NewSpring Church faced major upheaval two years ago when founder and senior pastor Perry Noble was fired for alcohol use and other behaviors. At the time, NewSpring also was $47 million in debt, King revealed.

After Noble’s departure, King served as interim pastor for one year while church leaders prayed for direction. He didn’t want to become the next senior pastor, he says, and neither did some other key leaders. Based on guidance from the Holy Spirit, they decided to embrace a “true team approach,” which King notes may become a model for the future of the church in America.

NewSpring Church Names “New” Senior Pastor: Jesus Christ

As part of its revised structure, NewSpring Church “literally in our new bylaws named Jesus Christ as our senior pastor,” King says. But contrary to popular belief, “team leadership” doesn’t mean “no structure at all,” he points out. Day-to-day ministry responsibilities are shared by four lead pastors, three teaching pastors and 14 campus pastors.

On a recent episode of the “Essential Church” podcast, King credited the team structure with creating close bonds among church leaders. “It forces us…to submit our egos to the Holy Spirit because you can’t hide from your ego in that kind of space,” he says. “For us, what we’ve learned is the Holy Spirit wants to bring unity.”

The three teaching pastors, who rotate preaching duties, strive to “speak with one voice” even though they are three unique voices, King says. The weekly sermon is broadcast from NewSpring’s Anderson, South Carolina, campus and piped into the other sites.

Essential to making a team approach work, King says, is embracing “healthy confrontation.” That’s tough in the beginning, he says, but it becomes normal after a maturing process occurs. “Once an ego has been exposed, bruised and then recovers, as a team we’re less likely to get hurt or take offense.”

“No Ordinary Family” 

When asked about the current tone and tenor of the congregation, King says NewSpring now feels more like a family. In fact, a common phrase heard around the church is “No ordinary family.” Churchgoers linger in the lobbies because they “want to hang around and talk.” And pastoral staff members try to be more “visible and accessible” to church members, King says, so they’re viewed as part of the family.

This increased emphasis on family has coincided with a decreased focus on attendance numbers. One decision NewSpring made during the leadership transition was to stop reporting weekly turnout. “We just wanted to be focused on discipling and growing and shepherding our people,” King says.

Much as a family works to overcome financial difficulties, NewSpring committed to not borrowing any money until its debt was erased. In less than two years, King says, the debt has decreased by about 25 percent, from $47 million to $36 million. The church also now sets aside 10 percent of its budget for missions, realizing it needs to be a “church of tithes” as an example for members.

Past and Future

Many models of church leadership exist, King emphasizes, and NewSpring’s team approach isn’t necessarily the best—or right for everyone. It’s simply what the Holy Spirit has told them to do, he says.

King points to Acts 15, where key apostles who’d been on the frontlines with Jesus needed to make important decisions. Verse 28 uses the phrase, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” NewSpring has built on that biblical model, King says, and the result has been what he calls both a miracle and a revival.

This Is Why Al Mohler Didn’t Sign the Statement on Social Justice

By
Megan Briggs
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Al Mohler has been grappling with social justice for many decades now. While he appreciates the discussion the controversial Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel is stimulating in the church, the President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) could not bring himself to sign the Statement.

Parts of the Statement, Mohler told students at a chapel service at SBTS, are “undeniably true…healthy and wholesome and clearly protective of the gospel.” Other parts, however, are questionable to Mohler. He said he doesn’t understand them and “certainly couldn’t affirm” these parts.

The Statement, which is essentially the brainchild of 14 theologians and leaders such as Josh Buice, John MacArthur and Tom Ascol, consists of 14 affirmations and denials that range in topic from the inerrancy of Scripture to gender roles to racism.

What Does the Statement on Social Justice Say About Justice?

On the point of justice, the Statement can be summarized this way: Justice as defined by the Bible and the gospel is good, while justice defined by a society or culture is relative and “constantly in flux.” While the Bible (inerrant) is like an anchor in an ever-changing world, justice, as defined by society, could be likened to a “reed swayed by the wind.” For this reason, the writers advocate that the church should not get taken up by the latest whim of the culture when it comes to issues that fall under “social justice” but should hold fast to its “primary role.” The “primary role” of the church is defined in the Statement as “worship[ping] God through the preaching of his word, teaching sound doctrine, observing baptism and the Lord’s Supper, refuting those who contradict, equipping the saints and evangelizing the lost.” When the church does these things, there is often a positive effect on the culture and society in general.

Further, the Statement asserts that social activism shouldn’t be viewed as an integral component of the gospel or consistent with the primary role of the church. However, this is not saying that Christians shouldn’t vote or “utilize all lawful means that God has providentially established to have some effect on the laws of a society.” Rather, the Statement asserts that laws don’t “possess any inherent power to change sinful hearts.”

On these points, Mohler indicates he does not disagree. In his message at SBTS, Mohler says the justice that is presently being called for in broader culture is “rooted in what’s basically a Marxist source.” As Mohler explains it, Marxist theory can be boiled down to “identifying all the structures of authority and of order in society as repressive.” Under this theory’s influence, social justice means “tearing down all of those institutions, tearing down all of those orders, tearing down all of those authorities.” Naturally, Mohler says, this leads to anarchy. This view of social justice, Mohler agrees, does not fit with the Bible’s view of social justice, which we read about all throughout the Old and New Testaments.

So how does Mohler define social justice? “Where God’s people are, there must be an increasing realization of the justice of God in the society of which they are a part,” Mohler says. Put another way, if God’s people are behaving like God’s people and obeying the instructions of God’s word, there will be a consequential positive effect on society. People will be seen as equal in the eyes of God, the widow and orphan will be cared for, and restitution will be made for those mistreated (as the Bible instructs).

Where Mohler Disagrees With the Statement on Social Justice

While leaders all across the evangelical map are commenting on different points present in the Statement, the point that Mohler spends a lot of time addressing relates to victims.

The Statement reads:

We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression. While we are to weep with those who weep, we deny that a person’s feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression or prejudice.

While Mohler does believe there is a victim “culture and industry” in our society, there are also real victims. “There are victims right now of social forces of oppression,” Mohler says. “Just because those on the radical left point to everything as oppression doesn’t mean that nothing is oppression.”

As believers, Mohler says, we have an obligation “to speak on behalf of the victims and not on behalf of the oppressors.” Mohler implores his listeners to consider the present child abuse crisis our culture is currently dealing with. “There were structures of lies and oppression and cover up that denied [the victims’] injury and perpetuated the protection of the abusers,” Mohler states.

5 Lightbulb Insights That Clarified Small Group Ministry for Me

By
Mark Howell
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Have you ever suddenly noticed something so obvious and then wondered how in the world you could have missed it before?

Call it what you want, when you see (and understand) certain things for the first time, it really is like a 100-watt lightbulb suddenly illuminating the room. And some lightbulb moments—insights—are such game-changers you literally never see things the same way again.

Five lightbulb insights that clarified small group ministry for me:

• New groups are the key to connecting more people. It is very tempting to assist dwindling groups by “sending them another couple or two,” but adding unconnected people to existing groups rarely leads to an effective connection. The longer a group has been meeting the more impermeable the membrane around group members becomes. While there are exceptions, only the most brazen extroverts (or friends of existing members) can break through beyond three to four months. The most effective way to connect unconnected people is to focus on launching new groups. See also Critical Decision: Add Members to Existing Groups vs. Start New Groups?

• Matchmaking is a dead end. The sooner you stop facilitating matchmaking (attempting to find the perfect group for everyone who fills out a sign-up form), the sooner you can focus your limited attention on the most effective activities. Eliminating every “sign-up to join a group” opportunity (guest card, letter to first timers, etc.) and instead offering periodic opportunities to sign-up to attend a connection will add hours to your week that can be focused on more productive activities. See also 5 Stupid Things Small Group Pastors Need to Stop Doing.

• What is done to and for the leader determines what happens in the lives of their members. A small group ministry may be the optimal environment for life-change, but without a leader who has already experienced (or is experiencing) whatever you want to happen in the lives of the members of the group…it will be a meager experience. Curriculum can help keep a Bible study on the rails. Training in technique can assist the leader in leading a lively discussion. Training in abiding by the guidelines of a group agreement can fabricate a functional group. But if you want the members of the group to truly experience life-change, you must have a leader (or be developing a leader) who has already experienced what you want the members to experience. And this understanding determines the true role of a coach. See also 7 Things You Must Do TO and FOR Your Small Group Leaders.

• Coaching is not about technique. New leaders will either figure out everything they need to know about how to lead their group (technique) in the first three months, or the group won’t make it. Most new leaders will benefit from coaching in the techniques of leading an effective discussion, understanding and leveraging group dynamics, including the more reserved members of their group and limiting the contributions of the more dominant personalities in their group. But while most new leaders will benefit from some coaching on technique, it is what a coach can offer beyond the first three months that will ultimately have the greatest impact on the leader and the members of the group. A life-changing relationship with a spiritual mentor a few steps ahead who can do to and for the leader whatever you want the leader to do to and for the members of the group is a game-changer. See also 20 Frequently Asked Questions About Small Group Coaching.

• Retroactively assigning coaches to existing leaders almost never works. “We need to assign every group leader to a coach” is one of the most potentially dangerous conclusions a small group ministry pastor can come to. Another dangerous conclusion is that having a one to five ratio (coach to leader) is more important than having the right people in the role of a coach (often leading to recruiting warm and willing coaches as opposed to hot and qualified). New leaders who make it through the first several months without a coach’s help know they do not need a coach. After all, if a coach was an essential ingredient (and they didn’t have one) their group would have died prematurely, right? Wise small group ministry pastors identify, recruit and develop coaches who can be assigned to help new leaders get off to a great start and establish a relationship that will endure well beyond the initial three months. See also 5 Toxic Small Group Ministry Moves.

What do you think? Have a question? Want to argue? You can click here to jump into the conversation.  

Day Off for Ministry Leaders: A Case for Mondays and a Case for Fridays

By
Eric Geiger
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

“Why do you take a day-off during the week? The devil doesn’t take a day off!” said one cranky old man to a young pastor.

“Because I am not trying to be like the devil,” quipped the pastor.

Well done, pastor. Well done.

Day Off for Ministry Leaders

Ministry leaders must take a day off each week or they lack the moral authority to encourage those they serve to rest. Ministry leaders must take a day off each week for the sake of their own health, both physical and spiritual health. Without a time to rest, leaders will burn out or implode. Churches that make it difficult for church leaders to take a day off are harming the leaders and the church. Thankfully I have always served in churches that value the ministry leaders having time to rest. Thankfully the people who thought negatively about “days off” for ministry leaders weren’t in positions of decision-making.

If you are one of those people who think ministry leaders only work on Sundays, God loves you in the midst of your foolishness. But you are really, really foolish.

I had always taken Fridays as my “day off” before leaving the local church and serving as senior vice-president at LifeWay Christian Resources. Other friends of mine took Mondays off. Those seem to be the most common days off for ministry leaders. When I left local church ministry to serve at LifeWay, I learned what an actual weekend was. I had no idea what that word “weekend” really meant till not being on staff at a local church. Now that I have gone back to the local church, my current “day off” is Monday but I am going to experiment with Friday again too.

I have asked others which day is the best “day off” for ministry leaders and here are the best arguments I have heard for each day:

Take Mondays off:

  • Sunday is the end of your week. Take Sunday night and Monday off and rest before you start a new week.
  • The “Monday blues” can be real for ministry leaders. You are more susceptible to making bad decisions and expressing frustration to others. Take off and come back in a better place. You will have fewer regrets for your decisions and your interactions with others.
  • If you take Fridays off, you will be tired the entire week in the office. Rest up on Monday and you will enjoy the week more. And you will be more productive.

Take Fridays off:

  • On Mondays, you will not be able to resist problem solving from the weekend services, so you won’t really mentally be “off” on Mondays. On Friday, there is a better chance your task list is more complete.
  • You put yourself behind on sermon prep if you take Mondays off.
  • You are exhausted on Mondays. Don’t give that time to your family. Give them Friday.

Which day is best? I recently polled church leaders on Twitter and 70 percent of those who responded chose Fridays over Mondays. It likely depends on the rhythm and the personality of the leader. You can experiment and see which works best for you. Or you can stick with what you have always known. The most important thing is that you are actually taking your day off.

This article originally appeared here. 

Two Core Church Systems and the Encyclopedia Britannica

By
Daniel Im
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor. I remember that my family had the Encyclopedia Britannica set, and I would read through it all the time. One of my favorite things to look at within the encyclopedia was the section of transparent pages about human anatomy that diagrammed the different systems of the human body. Each page had a different system, and if you laid each on top of the other, you could get an idea of all the systems within the body and how they work with each other and around each other.

While my dream of being a Harvard trained neurosurgeon never materialized, I think back to these pages in the encyclopedia sometimes because of its relation to pastoring a church. Just like these systems within the body, the church also has systems that work together for one common goal. We can see the Apostle Paul make the same comparison in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.

There should be two core systems within your church: a discipleship pathway and a leadership pipeline.

The former is the intentional route in church to develop Kingdom disciples, while the latter is a process and structure in place to develop leaders toward that end and equip them to live as disciples. Together they are the framework for your church’s strategies. The discipleship pathway is about transforming hearts, and the leadership pipeline is about training transforming agents. One is the fuel, one is the engine; but both are necessary for movement.

Without the right systems in place at your church, you will be like a hamster on a spinning wheel. Busyness will be happening, but there is no real movement or kingdom impact for the gospel. Don’t get bogged down in the minutiae of every week and the grind of programming and operations. Everything your church does should be equipping believers toward ministry or maturation in Christ. If you examine a ministry and it is not explicitly achieving one of those goals, why are you doing it?

In churches, we either always say yes or always say no. We do not a have clear framework in which to make strategic decisions. Think about it: Have you ever started a ministry without shutting another one down? The majority of churches would probably answer no. Inevitably there are so many things going on that you don’t know how to shut something down. It gets to a point where resources are spread thin, messaging is confusing, and everyone needs announcement time and space for their ministry.

Having a discipleship pathway and a leadership pipeline as your core strategy systems prevents these issues, because every ministry you take on and every decision you make will be based on the goal of maturing or equipping believers. Strategy is not about doing anything and everything. Strategy is about saying no to the good, the extra and the peripheral so that you can say yes to the great, focused and opportune.

This article originally appeared here.

7 Reasons Kids Still Need to Memorize Scripture

By
Jenny Funderburke Smith
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Our kids live in a world surrounded by technology. They can have the world at their fingertips via a screen, including the Bible. I love the Bible apps that we have available. I very much love when I see my middle schooler engaging with the Bible on her smartphone (except when she got smart aleck-y with me because I was interrupting her plan to get her to go to school…but that’s a whole other blog post). Having kids memorize Scripture has long been a part of children’s ministry. Is it still a relevant thing to emphasize in this technological day and age? I would argue that this discipline is more important now than ever.

Why should memorizing Scripture still be an important part of our ministries and our homes?

  1. Kids are designed with a high capacity for remembering. God created kids to have brains that are like sponges. They absorb so much and learn so much so quickly. If you are 40 like me, you might realize that memorizing doesn’t come quite as easily as it used to. As important as it might be for kids to learn all of the state capitals and parts of a plant, it is vital that we help them use this stage of their lives and brains to hide God’s Word in their hearts. Even toddlers and preschoolers can begin learning truths from Scripture.
  2. They can “preach the gospel to themselves.” This phrase is popular in gospel-centered circles and it refers to continually reminding ourselves of what Jesus has done for us. When our kids have memorized God’s Word and have hidden the truths of the gospel deep in their hearts, they are better able to keep the gospel at the center of everything they think and believe.
  3. We all have a worldview. Every one of us has a “lens” through which we view the situations, people and circumstances around us. To memorize Scripture allows opportunity for God’s Word to be an automatic response, not something they have to Google when they are unsure. When kids know verses about who He is, who we are, what He does and what Christ did for us, they are prepared to view the world through a Biblical worldview.
  4. Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Jesus shared this truth in Luke 6:45. What is in our kids’ heart shapes what comes out in their actions, their words and their decisions. I love the illustration of a mug. Whatever I fill that mug with is what is going to spill out when it is bumped. If I fill it with coffee, I should not expect orange juice to splash out when I bump it and some splashes out. In the same way, what is filling my child’s heart and mind is what is going to “splash out” or “overflow” when life bumps them.
  5.  Kids can better sort out the world’s junk. 2 Corinthians 10:5 instructs us to “take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Partially because they have a screen in their hands, our kids are inundated with messages and ideas every single day. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that kids are exposed to at least 40,000 advertisements a year. And this number just includes media ads, not even the messages and ideas kids receive from other kids, teachers, coaches and everywhere else in life. How can kids immediately compare thoughts and ideas to what Christ says is truth if they do not know truth?
  6. We want them to make wiser choices. I know I say this to my kids all the time. Do you? “Do the right thing.” “Make good choices.” “Choose wisely.” The book of Proverbs reminds us over and over again that wisdom begins with knowing God. When our kids are filled with His wisdom through His Word, the words they have memorized begin to shape the choices they make.
  7. Discipline is good. Memorizing takes more work than searching for something in an app. Memorizing takes concentration and focus. These are good things. In an instantaneous world, it is so good for our kids to have to put forth some effort to exercise a spiritual discipline.

What would you add? How do you make the discipline to memorize Scripture relevant in your ministry or in your home?

This article originally appeared here.

4 Vital Worship Practices for the Heart of the Worship Leader

By
Jarryd Foreman
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Recently, my family and I moved to a new house. If you’ve ever experienced the “joy” of moving—especially with kids—you know it can be a long and stressful process. All of the boxes, the packing and the miraculous return of those missing socks once you move your dryer can add up to pure madness.

Packing up a house can also reveal unwanted surprises, like when we moved our couch for the first time in two years to find a mountain of dust, a plethora of missing toys, and a very questionable half-eaten Chick-fil-A nugget. During our move, I found myself asking my wife numerous times, “Are we really this messy?!”

Then came the worst part. Everything was out of the house, and we were left with cleaning up the aftermath. After googling the cost of a hazmat suit, a realization finally set in: With more maintenance, the house would have been in much better condition.

As we transitioned into our brand new house, we immediately felt the urgency—maybe even a little too much—of what it would take to maintain our home. We vowed to be intentional on a daily basis to faithfully steward our home, even in the things that aren’t visible.

This same illustration can be applied to the heart of a worship leader. Intentionality is important with our craft and leadership as well as in maintaining the health of our own hearts. There’s a reason Jesus stresses the importance of the heart so much in the Scriptures—because it’s the life and breath behind everything we do. Sadly, we may be able to fake things on the outside with talent or charisma, but I believe that the pastor whose heart is far from God is of no value to the kingdom.

If you’re a worship leader, I think it’s healthy to ask yourself a few questions:

  • What is your life like underneath the surface?
  • If you stripped away the surface, would your life reveal a heart that has a zeal and passion for God?

Nothing is more vital for our churches, our families, our spouses and those we serve with than for our hearts to be healthy. The following are four vital practices we must have in order to make sure our hearts are constantly chasing after God. These disciplines may seem simple, but they are crucial if we’re to avoid the pitfall of honoring the Lord with our lips while our hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8).

Drink From the Well

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105 ESV)

Be in the Word, daily. While this discipline seems to be a no-brainer, it’s often overlooked among the many tasks, emails, set lists and volunteer lunches we have on our daily plates. To have any strength and impact in ministry, our days must start with the self-care of being in the Word. It’s truly that simple. The inspired Word of God is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12) and reminds us of who Jesus is and what He’s done for us. Run to His Word daily, and drink from the well that never runs dry.

Sit at His Feet

“And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.” (Luke 10:39 ESV)

Most of us know the context of this story of Mary and Martha. Jesus enters the house of Martha, and while she is consumed with serving, Mary just wants to sit at Jesus’ feet. It’s a familiar passage to most people, but it’s easy to overlook the simple concept that sitting at the feet of Jesus through prayer is everything. While God certainly calls us to do good works, above and beyond that, He wants us to remember that we are His sons and daughters first. He wants us to spend time with Him. He wants us to know and rely on Him more. One of the ways we can pastor our own hearts away from self-reliance is by spending time with Him through His Word and through prayer.

Stop and Listen

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8 ESV)

One of the greatest detriments to our ministries and the people we lead is failing to rest from our work. I remember early on in ministry, I felt like I needed to be “on” at all times, even the weekends. This drove me far from my family, and most importantly, it drove me away from the Lord. Taking a Sabbath day of rest each week is not only a good practice, but is a command of Scripture. You must have it. God designed it to be this way!

Use this day of rest to disengage from “work” and the toil of ministry to refocus your heart and soul back on the Lord. Take time to stop and listen. This day of rest will recharge you and remind your heart that whatever ministry tasks you have are under the sovereign hand of God. Pastor your heart well by obeying the regular rhythm to Sabbath.

Be in Biblical Community

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2 ESV)

One of the best ways to grow as a believer, much less a pastor, is by being in solid biblical community. This may look different depending on your context, but you need to surround yourself with people who will walk alongside you in the Christian life. This includes people who you give permission to call out sin in your life and see your blind spots. Being in biblical community is about being with people who know everything about you—your strengths, weaknesses, sin struggles and pitfalls. It’s about constantly being “gospeled” by other people so that you can grow in Christlikeness. Take care of your heart by surrounding yourself with godly people and living in biblical community. 

While this is not an exhaustive list, these four practices will help you maintain a healthy heart and prevent the cobwebs that apathy and neglect create. Our churches need pastors who are not only skilled at leading people’s hearts to behold the glory of God, but who are also diligent in pastoring their own. May we be worship leaders who strive toward these disciplines with hearts aimed toward glorifying the risen Christ.

This article originally appeared here.

Should We Allow Student Worship Leaders?

By
Tim Lucas
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Savannah, age 18, from Covina, California, submitted this question about student worship leaders:

How do you feel about high school students leading worship, both in the high school ministry and in adult services?

Great question, and one that high school students who are interested in worship leading should be asking.

Likewise, worship ministries should establish a plan to train up young leaders.

I absolutely think high school students should be leading worship in youth ministry and when appropriate, in the adult service.

However, there should be a progression to how this happens. I’ll take you through the process that I went through starting as a high school worship leader, and how I’ve worked high school students into leading worship for youth and adult services.

START SMALL AS A YOUNG WORSHIP LEADER

Worship leading is a spiritual gift well as a skill developed over months and years.

As a young person who wants to lead worship, seek opportunities to increase skill in smaller settings. It’s a lose-lose situation if you try to start too big too fast.

Neither you as the young worship leader nor the congregation benefits when you jump into a bigger role than you can handle.

I don’t know of any first-time driver who should motor from Seattle to L.A. as a first driving experience. (That was for all of you who like metaphors.)

Fortunately, there are plenty of smaller opportunities in any church.

High school students can lead their peers in their youth group. But that’s not the only way to start.

You could lead worship for elementary and junior high students. Perhaps there’s a retirement home or adult seniors group in the church that would appreciate a student leading them in worship.

I started leading worship at age 15 in youth group. We had no worship team prior to that, but an influential youth leader took it upon himself to start one.

It was the definition of starting small. Many Wednesday nights it was just me and a piano. As time went on, we gained a drummer, guitarists, singers, a bassist and so on.

We started to play for youth camps as well as being consistent in leading the youth in worship.

From there I was invited to be a singer for a Sunday service. Then I got to play piano for a Sunday. Eventually, the youth worship team was invited to start leading worship once per month for the Sunday night adult service.

You’ve probably guessed my point by now. You must be faithful in the small things before you are worked up to larger opportunities.

Plus, these beginning responsibilities build your skill and discipline as a worship leader.

Isaiah 28:10 says, “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (KJV).

In other words, there’s no shortcut to becoming a skilled, mature worship leader capable of providing leadership to an adult congregation.

CO-LEADING IN ADULT SERVICES

It’s true that young worship leaders should start small.

But many who start early, plus have maturity, an anointing and talent, can reach an appropriate level sufficient to lead in adult services.

That was the case for a young worship leader in my church.

We started a youth worship team. She signed up to sing. Though only 13 at the time, she showed a lot of potential.

By age 14, she became the primary worship leader for the youth group. She showed up to practice, chose the worship list, and did many of those more tedious tasks relating to leading worship.

After leading in youth group for over a year, the natural next step was for her to start participating in adult services.

However, she was not ready to lead an entire adult worship time by herself—yet.

So I had her lead one or two songs on a Sunday when I was the primary leader.

We call this co-leading at my church. It’s a chance for a very young worship leader to get a taste of leading the adult congregation without having to lead the entire service.

There is so much more to leading a worship service than just singing. You must lead the worship team, create the worship set, deal with transitions, hear what the Spirit is saying, gauge the audience and so much more!

This is a lot for a younger worship leader to become proficient in all at once, hence the value of co-leading with an experienced leader.

This is a unique experience for the older worship leader too. It’s a chance to mentor a young person in a real-world situation. Some of the best training I’ve given is during these co-leading services.

Perhaps co-leading isn’t the right model for every church, but it has worked for students (and older, less experienced worship leaders) at my church. Whether you are a high school worship leader or part of the church leadership team, experiment with this method and see how it goes.

SHOULD A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT EVER BE THE CHURCH’S MAIN WORSHIP LEADER?

There are some instances when high school students can and do lead the adult worship service and take on the role of lead worshiper.

This is totally fine. In fact, it’s great as long as the student has gained the skill and humility to do so.

Often this happens in smaller churches where the student is the most talented and anointed individual in the church. God has placed him or her there for that purpose.

We can’t forget that Daniel was a teenager when he stood up for God’s law in Babylon to his own peril.

David had honed his worship abilities in the pasture lands and was anointed Israel’s lead worshiper at a very young age.

Don’t underestimate the purity and power a teenager can bring to worship. God doesn’t.

This article originally appeared here.

Let’s Just Be Honest and Admit We Hate One Another

By
Mike Leake
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Are you a Democrat? A Republican? Something in between?

Are you a Calvinist? An Arminian? Or some hybrid of both of them?

Are you a social justice warrior? Are you one who believes social justice issues are going a bit too far? Or are you confused and not really sure where you belong?

Do you wear Nike or burn them?

I could go on and on. Pick your debate. Pick your side. It might be something that actually matters or it could even be trifling nonsense. In our day and age it doesn’t matter much—pick a side, be outraged by something.

Can we call this what it is?

Hatred.

We hate one another. This is the conclusion I came to in reading through Proverbs 10:12. I also found much help by Charles Bridges’ commentary on Proverbs. Here is what he said about this text:

Hatred, however varnished by smooth pretense, is the selfish principle of man. Like a subterraneous fire, it continually stirs up mischief and creates or keeps alive rankling coldness, disgusts, dislikes, envies and evil surmisings. Hatred carps at the infirmities of others, aggravates the least slip, or resents the most trifling or even imaginary provocation. These strifes are kindled to the great dishonor of God and the marring of the beauty and consistency of the gospel. (Bridges, Proverbs)

What Bridges is saying here is that hatred does four things. First, it keeps alive ill feelings toward others. It keeps stoking the flames. Second, it continually finds faults at the infirmities of others. Third, it turns the least little slip into a big deal. And last, it has deep bitterness toward the most trifling or even imaginary thing—it wants to be mad.

But contrast this with love which covers over a multitude of sins. Hatred wants to pull off the covers. It wants to expose everyone and everything. Hatred wants to view others in the worst possible light. Love, on the other hand, looks for ways to view people positively. Again, I appreciate the words of Bridges:

Love covers, overlooks, speedily forgives and forgets. Full of candor and inventiveness, it puts the best construction on doubtful matters, searches out any palliation, does not rigidly eye or wantonly expose a brother’s faults, nor uncover them at all except so far as may be needful for his ultimate good. To refrain from gross slander, while abundant scope is left for needless and unkind detraction, is not covering sin. (Bridges, Proverbs)

Love actually gets inventive about viewing people in the best possible light. The only time we would uncover the fault of another is to do them ultimate good. Is that really what you see on social media? Is that really what happens as we rant and rave against “the other side”? Are we looking to love people or looking to tear them down so as to win an argument for our side?

Let’s just be honest and confess that our fruits are evidence that we hate one another. I know as Christians we don’t like to admit that because we know hatred isn’t one of the fruits of the spirit. And I know that we’ve got a tendency to try to mask it as something else like righteous indignation and fighting for the truth. But we aren’t going to be healed of trying to bring in the kingdom through rage if we don’t admit what is actually going on in our hearts. And let’s admit that this isn’t OK for us as believers in Jesus. And let’s come to Christ for the covering and redemption he provides and set out again to truly love our neighbors.

I tried applying this to my own life and God exposed something in my heart that I wasn’t too fond of. (See how He did that? He aims to do me good and exposes my sin in order to provide healing, not simply to beat me over the head and win an argument). I thought about ways in which I might have hatred stirring up strife in my heart/life. And I thought about what love would look like.

And it scared me.

I began making excuses. Who is going to protect me if I put a positive spin on the abusive actions of difficult people? Won’t their false beliefs spread like wildfire if I somehow cozy up to them and pretend like they aren’t in serious error? If I invent ways to view people in the best possible light, am I not just lying to myself and others?

This is where a belief in the sovereignty and justice of God helps us to actually love instead of hate. If I really believe that God is just and that God will defend my cause I don’t have to worry about defending myself. If I really believe that the gates of hell will not prevail against the gospel—that though error might have a day in the sun—then I’m free to engage arguments as they are, to call down pretenses with the gospel, but to separate people from their arguments. I can love people while engaging arguments. And I can dismiss arguments in a truly loving manner.

So I’m convinced that we truly hate one another. And maybe we hate one another because we’ve forgotten the gospel. We’ve forgotten how much Jesus has covered us. And we’ve forgotten that the Cross also means that God is absolutely just. We don’t have to fight with ungodly weapons to preserve our cherished positions. We are free to love.

This article originally appeared here.

All Churches Make Mistakes, Why Do Ours Feel Fatal?

By
Karl Vaters
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

No church is perfect.

Some churches make mistakes but keep growing and moving ahead at lightning speed, while other churches make similar mistakes, but can’t seem to make even the smallest forward progress.

Every pastor of every plateaued church experiences this. And every pastor of every growing church admits this.

Even the world’s fastest-growing churches make mistakes, but those mistakes don’t seem to affect their forward motion at all.

To make matters worse, some pastors don’t just make small mistakes, they seem to have massive shortcomings theologically, morally, relationally or strategically, but their ministry keeps growing like crazy. It’s like Serena Williams has lost her backswing, but she’s winning the Grand Slam anyway!

Beyond Winning and Losing

I talk to pastor after pastor who feels frustrated by this phenomenon. They want to be happy for positive steps that are made in any growing ministry, but it’s hard to watch as yet another pastor is touted as the one to emulate because their church is growing like crazy while ours is staying flat numerically.

Sometimes, the way we judge success in ministry reminds me of watching the post-game show after a close game.

For four quarters and into overtime, two football teams battle it out, trading the lead, until one team pulls off a field goal by inches in overtime. Or a baseball team singles in a run in the 15th inning. Then, after the game, the commentators talk about why one team won and the other team lost. And they make it sound like the losing team made nothing but mistakes, while the winning team did everything right.

Despite the fact that both teams were equal in every way that mattered until literally the last second, the entire game is assessed through the all-or-nothing lens of winners and losers.

In reality, what did the winning team do to win? They got that last kick by inches. What did the losing team do to lose? They didn’t block that kick.

Sometimes it can go like that for an entire season. One team wins a handful of nail-biter games, while another team barely loses theirs, but the first makes the playoffs, while the other goes home early.

In sports, that’s just the way it is. It’s a competition and that’s how competition works. Quit whining or quit playing.

But it shouldn’t be like that in the body of Christ. Churches are not in competition with each other. At least we shouldn’t be.

We’re not whining. And we don’t want to quit playing. We just want to be on the same team.

On the Same Team

Churches shouldn’t be seen through the lens of winner-takes-all. We should see each other as teammates who celebrate victories together, pick each other up when we’re down, and congratulate the player who’s having a good game, even if we’re having a bad one.

I don’t know why one hard-working, prayerful, wise, loving and risk-taking pastor who makes one set of mistakes keeps leading their church through growth barriers while another hard-working, prayerful, wise, loving and risk-taking pastor makes similar mistakes but is made to feel like a failure because their church isn’t experiencing the numerical growth that is supposed to be inevitable.

But I do know this. God doesn’t reward us based on results. He loves us without regard to numerical increase or decrease.

And Christ is with us when we suit up again, even though we fell flat on our face the last time we went on the field.

So keep playing. Keep learning. Keep working together.

Jesus sees the entire game. He’s looking for faithfulness, not success.

This article originally appeared here.

10 Crazy Church Laws from the Past That Would Never Fly Today

By
Brian Orme
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

These crazy church laws would never be passed today!

10. No Kissing in Front of a Church in Boston

I get it, you’re on a spiritual high from the message and the music and you want to end your Sunday morning with a little kiss on the steps. How sweet. But just don’t… unless you want to spend your Sunday night in a place with a public toilet and a guy named Bubba.

no-kiss

7 Questions for Preachers to Ask About Their Preaching Calendar

By
Chuck Lawless
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Preachers, I’m putting you on the spot today as you think about your preaching calendar. As we approach the final quarter of 2018 and look toward 2019, prayerfully answer these questions for yourself as you think about your preaching plan for the months to come:

  1. How much time have I spent seriously asking God about what my preaching direction might be in the next year? Too often, our prayer about preaching is only perfunctory and reactionary. We pray because we’re supposed to, and often only after we’ve already determined the topics.
  2. As I think about future topics, am I tempted to return to something I’ve done in the past? It’s easier to do that, of course, especially if it’s been a long time since you’ve done that series. It also probably won’t require as much dependence on God…
  3. What books of the Bible have I never studied in-depth? My guess is that they’re the same books you’ve never preached through, either. God might just challenge you to tackle something new.
  4. How much of the Bible have I preached through in the last five years? I don’t argue that all of our preaching must be book-by-book, but this question is a valid one. If I’ve sat under your preaching for the last five years, how much of the Bible would I have learned? How much of it would I not have learned?
  5. When was the last time I preached through an Old Testament book? Some of us love the Old Testament, but many of us camp out in the New Testament and almost ignore 2/3 of the Bible.
  6. What book of the Bible would I least want to preach? You never know where God might direct you.
  7. How might I improve my preaching in the next three months? Many preachers don’t ask that question unless (a) they’re in a church with a preaching team that does weekly evaluations or (b) they’re completing a doctoral project on preaching that requires evaluation. Preaching is so important, though, that NOT evaluating and seeking to improve is to settle for mediocrity and stagnation—even if your preaching is already decent.

What are your thoughts, preachers?

This article originally appeared here.

6 Signs You’ve Grown Cynical as a Leader (and How to Reverse It)

By
Carey Nieuwhof
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thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Find yourself becoming a little more cynical every year as a leader?

Few of us decide we’re going to be cynical…we just kind of end up there.

How does that happen?

How does a heart grow hard…how do you end up trusting no one…how does hope die?

Cynicism grows in the hearts of far too many leaders. Not only does it impact how you lead at work or in ministry, eventually your growing cynicism will tear at the fabric of your marriage and even at your relationship with your kids. Nobody likes a cynic.

If you find yourself gradually growing more cynical, you’re not alone.

I think leadership breeds cynicism for several reasons. The good news is you can beat it if you understand how it forms.

6 REASONS LEADERS GROW CYNICAL

So why do leaders grow cynical? Here are six reasons I’ve seen in myself and in others:

1. YOU KNOW TOO MUCH

The more you lead, the more you know. And the more you know, the easier it is to grow cynical.

This shouldn’t surprise us at all. Solomon said it 3,000 years ago. The wisest man in his day had to battle cynicism at a very deep level (ever read Ecclesiastes?). In Ecclesiastes 1:18, Solomon makes the link between knowledge and sorrow crystal clear:

For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

Boom. There it is.

Think of all you’ve seen as a leader. The heartbreak, the betrayals, the politics, the people you believed in who kept letting you down.

You know too much. You’ve seen too much.

And not knowing how to handle what you’ve seen and what you know creates an incubator for cynicism.

2. YOU HAVEN’T GRIEVED YOUR LOSSES

Leadership is a series of wins and losses. If you’re like me, you hardly notice the wins, but you feel every loss.

Years ago, a mentor pointed out to me that most pastors never grieve their losses. Every time someone leaves your church, it’s a loss. Every time you do a funeral, it’s a loss. And every time you can’t do what you hoped you could do as a leader, it’s a loss.

Most of us just stuff the losses; pretending they don’t matter.

When I first realized I’d stuffed a lot of losses over my life, I cried. A lot. I mean like almost for a month kind of crying. That seemed to clear the backlog.

Now, when I sense there’s a loss (even a small one), I grieve it before God.

There’s a reason people in biblical times would declare 40 days of mourning. I used to read those passages and think, “What’s wrong with those people? Why can’t they just go back to work?”

Actually, there’s something healthy about grieving your losses.

What do you need to grieve that you haven’t grieved?

3. YOU HAVEN’T DEALT WITH YOUR ISSUES

In addition to the losses you experience in life and leadership, we all bring baggage with us from the past.

I ran from dealing with my ‘stuff’ for years. After all, I was a good leader. I didn’t have any baggage. I sent people to counselling, I didn’t go to counselling.

How wrong that attitude was. Apparently, I did have baggage. And it was impacting not only my leadership but my marriage and parenting. I’m so thankful I found some trained Christian counselors to help me work through my issues.

4. YOU’VE PROJECTED PAST FAILURES ONTO NEW SITUATIONS

When you don’t deal with your issues or grieve your losses, you end up projecting past failures onto new situations.

Here’s how cynicism operates.

Cynicism:

Looks at a new team member and says, “I’ll bet it’s just a matter of time until he screws up.”

Looks at a new class of 9th graders and says, “They’re just like the kids who drove me nuts last year.”

Sees the newlyweds and says, “I wonder how long until they hit the rocks?”

Sees the new church and decides, “It will only be a matter of time until they implode too.”

If you want to fight cynicism, stop projecting past failures onto new situations.

5. YOU’VE DECIDED TO STOP TRUSTING

As soon as cynicism gets a toehold in your life, you stop trusting.

Because the next person is just like the last person, you decide that kind of people can’t be trusted. Or worse, people can’t be trusted.

Really?

Is that how you want to live? What kind of leader does that make you? What kind of person does that make you?

Or, without inducing a guilt trip, what kind of Christ-follower does that make you (isn’t the heart of our faith forgiveness and hope)?

If you want to kick cynicism in the teeth, trust again. Hope again. Believe again.

6. YOU’VE LOST YOUR CURIOSITY

I think an incredibly effective long-term antidote to cynicism is curiosity.

The curious are never cynical.

The curious are always interested, always open to new possibilities, always thinking, always hopeful. I wrote a post about the link between cynicism and how to become more curious here.

Because cynicism tends to creep up with age, you’ll notice there are (sadly) a lot of cynical old people. My favorite elderly people are never the cynical, but the curious. The ones who at 80 are still learning, still open, still hopeful, still passionate about the next generation, still optimistic.

When was the last time you were honestly curious about something? Pursue curiosity, and cynicism will die of a thousand pinpricks.

If you recognize yourself in this post, just know there’s help and there’s hope.

I tackle cynicism and six other key issues in depth in my book Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the 7 Greatest Challenges That No One Expects and Everyone Experiences.

I’ve personally navigated these seven challenges in varying degrees, and in Didn’t See It Coming, I outline how leaders get taken out by the things they didn’t see coming.

There’s an antidote to each challenge and some very practical steps you can take so issues like cynicism, pride, irrelevance and emptiness no longer define your present or your future. Once a cynic, not always a cynic.

You can pick up your copy of Didn’t See It Coming here (hardcover, AudioBook or Kindle) and once again (or for the first time) discover how to thrive in life leadership.

To listen to a free chapter of the audiobook on cynicism, click here.

Take a picture of you with your favorite quote from the book (underlined or highlighted or otherwise visible [audiobook listeners get to be creative]) and post it to social using the hashtag #didntseeitcomingbook.

Post on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook (or all three)!

We’ll draw 10 winners randomly and award you a $25 Starbucks gift card.

Contest runs from Tuesday, September 25, 2018, to Monday, October 1, 2018.

WHAT KILLS CYNICISM IN YOU?

If you’ve felt cynicism growing inside you, what’s making it grow? What’s helping you beat it?

This article originally appeared here.

Persecuted Coptic Christians Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

By
Stephanie Martin
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

Editor’s Note 

October 5, 2018

The winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize was announced earlier today. Denis Mukwege, a Christian gynecologist working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nadia Murad, a Yazidi activist who survived enslavement by ISIS in Iraq, received the reward. The two were selected based on their ” efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.” While the Coptic Christians did not receive the prize, we are still very encouraged by the selection of Mukwege and Murad, as well as the fact that the Coptic Christians were nominated. To God be the glory and may he help us in these troubled times.

In what’s believed to be a first for an ethno-religious group, Egypt’s persecuted Coptic Christian minority is in the running for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. A winner will be announced on October 5.

The Copts, who are indigenous to Egypt, have faced brutal attacks in the Middle East since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. Yet they refuse to fight back or to meet violence with violence.

A recent report from the charity Open Doors says Coptic Christians face “unprecedented levels of persecution” yet “have consistently refused to retaliate and continue to practice peaceful co-existence.”

According to Open Doors, 128 Coptic Christians were killed for their faith in 2017, and more than 200 were forced from their homes. Last April on Palm Sunday, 49 Christians were killed in church bombings. The next month, 26 Christians on their way to worship were attacked and killed by gunmen.

ISIS has taken responsibility for most of the attacks, which include beheadings. The Islamic terrorist group calls Coptic Christians their “favorite prey” and has promised to put an end to the Coptic people, whom they call infidels.

Coptic Christians Are Undeterred by Terrorism

Coptic Christians have been praised for their martyr-like faith amid the attacks. When gunmen demand they renounce their faith and turn to Islam, the believers refuse, knowing they face certain death.

Although terrorism has become commonplace and almost expected for Coptics, the conditions take a toll on them. David Saeed, who was worshiping at St. Mark’s Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria during the Palm Sunday attack, said he was shocked but not angry. “We’re used to [this kind of violence] here in Egypt,” he said. “Every church in Egypt just prepares for this. Everyone knows that some time you will get bombed, you will be killed.”

Christian women in Egypt face harassment for their gender as well as their faith. Engy Magdy, a Coptic journalist based in Cairo, calls life “hell” for female believers. In an op-ed, she writes, “To be a woman in a country where most of her people see women as a disgrace, and at best look at her from a sexual point of view, it is a heavy burden.” Because Christian women don’t wear a hijab, they are targets for abuse. “The Egyptian man thinks he has the right to harass her, simply because he sees her as a whore and a disbeliever.”

Violence Against Coptic Christians Isn’t New

Coptic Christians trace their roots to the first century, when the apostle Mark introduced the Gospel to Egypt. For centuries, the Copts have faced persecution for practicing their beliefs. As non-Muslims in a Muslim-controlled land, they also were historically subjected to a head tax, or jizyah.

Coptics, the largest Christian minority group in the Middle East, comprise about 10 percent of Egypt’s population. Around the world, Coptics number about 20 million.

More than 300 nominees are in the running for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Although organizations such as the American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders have previously received the award, no ethno-religious group has ever done so. Following next week’s announcement of the winner, an official award ceremony will be held in Stockholm in December.

How Does Your Social Media Presence Reflect Your Faith?

By
Chris Brown
-
thank you notes for children’s ministry volunteers

If you use social media, you’ve watched—or, gulp, participated—as debates about politics or social issues have spiraled out of control. Before you know it, there’s a full-blown frenzy on your news feed, whether you asked for it or not!

By the end of it, you know exactly which company or candidate or cause all of your friends stand with—or despise. And—bonus!—you know who’s hurt, who’s angry and who’s been unfriended. That’s no way for anyone to live their life online!

As a Christian, you’re called to live differently. God wants you to live out your faith digitally as much as you do in church on Sundays. You have a huge responsibility when you interact on social media! You’re called to steward your words for God’s glory. After all, words are powerful. And depending on how you engage, what you say can bring people closer to God or push them away.

That doesn’t mean you always need to be in total agreement with everything your friends post. You can disagree while still showing love. And sometimes showing love means saying nothing at all, or reaching out privately rather than addressing someone publicly. Other times, it might mean offering a third perspective that doesn’t fit neatly into “for” or “against.”

It’s tough knowing how—or even whether—to participate in the digital public square when these issues pop up. But as a Christ-follower, you have to think about how you engage online. Next time your Facebook feed becomes one long dialogue on the latest social issue, think through these three steps before you join the conversation.

1. What’s your motive?

Before you type a single word—no matter how tempting it is—ask yourself why you want to in the first place. Is it because that political candidate got under your skin? Or do you see an opportunity to let the Holy Spirit speak through you?

Romans 8:8 (NIV) tells us, “Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” If your desire to participate is of the Spirit, then your presence in the debate should demonstrate Christ’s love. If it’s of the flesh, reconsider whether you should get involved at all.

2. Do your words live up to Philippians 4:8?

Before you hit “Post” or “Send,” slow down and think about how you want people to receive what you say. Social media speeds up the communication process and doesn’t encourage us to think before we act—or react. Plus, we might be tempted to say things we would never say in person because we’re behind a screen.

To avoid any of that, make sure your words line up with Philippians 4:8 (ESV): “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

3. Does your tone reflect the fruit of the Spirit?

A person’s tone is sometimes hard to read on a screen. There’s so much we say with our voices, facial expressions and body language that we can’t communicate online! That’s why it’s so important that you pay attention to the implied message behind your words.

To avoid a comment that comes across as rude, mean, hateful or passive-aggressive—even if the words themselves aren’t—put it up to the Galatians 5:22–26 test. Is the tone full of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? It shouldn’t sound conceited, provoking or envious. When you can answer yes, you know you’re ready to engage your friends online without compromising your faith.

It’s not a matter of if the next social media debate will strike, but when. When it does, remember that you’re stewarding your words and your online presence for Christ. Putting everything you do on social media through that filter will ensure you represent Christ—and your faith—well.

This article originally appeared here.

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